Shloka 13
अश्मसारमयं नून॑ हृदयं मम दुर्हदः । यमौ यदेतौ दृष्टवाद्य पतितौ नावदीर्यते,धर्मपुत्रो महाबाहुर्विललाप सुविस्तरम् । अर्जुन मरे पड़े थे; उनके धनुष-बाण इधर-उधर बिखरे थे। भीमसेन और नकुल-सहदेव भी प्राणरहित हो निश्रेष्ट हो गये थे। इन सबको देखकर युधिष्ठिर गरम-गरम लंबी साँसें खींचने लगे। उनके नेत्रोंसे शोकके आँसू उमड़कर उन्हें भिगो रहे थे। अपने समस्त भ्राताओंको इस प्रकार धराशायी हुए देख महाबाह धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर गहरी चिन्तामें डूब गये और देरतक विलाप करते रहे-- “मुझ दुष्टका हृदय निश्चय ही पत्थर और लोहेका बना हुआ है, जो कि आज इन दोनों भाई नकुल और सहदेवको धरतीपर पड़ा देख विदीर्ण नहीं हो जाता है
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |
aśmasāramayaṃ nūna hṛdayaṃ mama durhṛdaḥ |
yamau yad etau dṛṣṭvādy(a) patitau nāvadīryate |
dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Surely my heart—wicked as I am—is made of stone and iron, since even today, on seeing these twin brothers fallen to the ground, it does not split apart.” Thus the mighty-armed Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira), overwhelmed by grief and self-reproach, lamented at length—his sorrow expressing both fraternal love and the moral shock of witnessing the collapse of those he is bound to protect.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of kinship and protection: when those under one’s care fall, a righteous person experiences not only grief but also self-scrutiny. Yudhiṣṭhira’s ‘stone-and-iron heart’ is a rhetorical self-condemnation, showing that sensitivity to suffering is integral to dharma.
After encountering the twins lying fallen, Yudhiṣṭhira is overwhelmed. He laments at length, blaming himself for being so hard-hearted that his heart does not break upon seeing Nakula and Sahadeva down.